Is there a better way to initiate comments on your blog as opposed to simply asking for them at the end of the post?

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Jay’s Answer: Reciprocate with other bloggers. Post comments on their blogs. Contact them via email and ask for their comments on your blog (pick a specific article that you think would be of interest to them).

Can you suggest a good tag line for ‘Mobile Application Development’? We are a company providing Mobile Application Development services, and so, I need to place a catchy tag line on website related to this. We provide MAD services for all the Operating Systems.

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Jay’s Answer: Creating Solutions Everywhere

We are 30,000+ members information technology association, which needs to brand a new online conference for next big thing after internet. The event is considerably new entrant to already crowded space, but inaugural event was a great success. I faced this issue when we ordered banners and also printed materials and other stuff. Perhaps this information could be useful during logo re-work and articles writing.

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Jay’s Answer: Since the space is crowded, you need to showcase how your technology is better/different. As for a phrase, how about “Be There Now” (which plays off the spiritual phase, “Be Here Now”)?

Photo by PictFactory

According to Twitter, 150 million people generate 1000 tweets (a 140-character message) per second. That’s a lot of short messages – but where’s the benefit to you or your business?

I’ve been recently experimenting with social media, and there’s a lot of people who follow thousands of people (get their tweets) and likewise large numbers of people who have thousands (or millions) of followers. Because of the volume of messages, information is seldom read, or if it is read, seldom retained. Oftentimes, the message is retweeted (resent) to others. As I always advise my clients, focus on the ROI (return of investment) of your efforts. If you’re trying to disseminate information – measure not how many people follow you, but how many people act on your message. Likewise, measure how much benefit you gain from following others, reading their messages, and retweeting. If you don’t know the ROI, stop and develop a plan to measure it. Otherwise, you’re developing an activity that can gobble up your free time by giving you a sense of had done something significant.

Our culture tends to not value not-doing. If you’re not checking your email, Facebook friends, Twitter feed, blog, etc. you’re not “keeping up with the latest information”. We tend to forget that networking with others can spark great ideas, but the ideas need time to ferment in our minds to create “aha” moments. If you value creativity, take time away from the electronic “twitch” to check your messages, and give yourself the gift of quiet time to allow your mind to create amazing insights.

A related great article: Peter Bregman’s recent article, Why I Returned My iPad.

I’m in the process of setting up an online store directed towards men. Do men buy online for women and other people in their lives? In other words, who are the real online shoppers?
The premise was to have a site where men could purchase gifts. Many of the women I know do not feel the men in their lives purchase suitable gift items, and lack romance.

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Jay’s Answer: Instead of directly selling the products, why not create a website that lets the visitor fill out a survey, produce a customized list of items (with referral links to the products to trusted merchants) based on your recommendations? It’ll allow you to focus your business on recommendations, and not stocking products and make money on each referral.

Is there a good way to use my website to start creating a contact database for b2b relations? I heard that If I can get the targets to my website and have them sign up for some type of information I can then get there information and use it as a target prospect. Is this true?

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Jay’s Answer: Yes. It’s sort of a chicken-and-egg problem. You build a contact list because people have opted in to your communications. They opt-in because they believe you have information that they want.

But first, you need to get them to your website, which means that somehow your target audience needs to find you when they start looking for you. So you also need to invest in bringing (anonymous) people to your website, to entice them with your offering, and want them to continue talking with them.

Also – studies show that the more information you ask of people to opt-in, the lower the sign-up rate. So, only ask for information that you absolutely need to have to begin the dialog. Once you’ve show your true worth, they’ll share more of themselves with you.

I am a RYT registered yoga teacher. I am inquiring a few tips on what a consumer wants out of a yoga website and how to name my new company. I currently work at a Mental Clinic LLC, and I would like to incorporate their business with mine. They are one of a kind, therapy partnered with Holistic services including ti chi, massage, reiki and yoga. For my personal practice, I plan on creating a website, and it needs a name. I teach HATHA YOGA, which is a more gentle type. I teach most people over 30 years of age and really try to achieve a more stress-free way of living.

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Jay’s Answer: People look for websites for all sorts of information: location, pricing, schedule, services, and details. Additionally, the content/look of the website must appeal to those you’re targeting.

As for a name, you’re looking for both a domain name and a business name. A business name needs to be unique in your county, so you can file a DBA. Your domain name ideally is the same as your business name, but if it’s “similar enough” that’ll probably suffice for your needs.

Unless you’re targeting people already familiar with yoga, Hatha doesn’t mean much to them. Since you’ve been teaching awhile, why are people taking your classes? Is it for stress-reduction, flexibility, community, etc.? Focus on the key benefit, and reflect that in your name, tagline, and the rest of your marketing materials.

Hi, I have been fighting the fitness battle my whole life. In high school and college I was too skinny, then I started my own business and found little time to train. I have solved both problems, going from a skinny 150 lbs to a lean and muscular 178 lbs while shortening my workouts to fit my increasingly busy schedule. I needed balance in my life, fitness gave me that and I want to share my solutions with others facing the same problems. I want to help other young business professionals win the same battles without making the same mistakes I did in the form of a free blog site.

How do I get this message across on my site?

I need an effective title and subtitle as well as an effective page layout but am struggling with both.
Here is my site, read ‘my story’ for more info. I have a boxing background which I’d like to incorporate into the site (www.chadhowsefitness.com) as well. Any ideas will help! Thanks

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Jay’s Answer: Focus on your copy first. Tell personal stories of how your body image affected your worldview and how improving your body improved your life. Ask others to share their stories.

Don’t think of trying to establish yourself as an authority figure yet. You have your own experiences, but unless you’ve helped hundreds (or thousands) of others improve their bodies and life, you can’t claim the title (and you’d rather have others hand the title to you).

As for traffic, that’s another issue entirely. Copy will keep ‘em, but you need people to read your copy. Write your articles/stories, but try to be a guest blogger in places your target audience visits. Also be clear who you’re targeting – the whole world or just the area you live in (are you trying to get clients or noticed?).

I do marketing for a Baby Boomer support website/blog called Vaboomer (www.Vaboomer.com)
Is this site looking good? Is it clear? What are critiques? Do you get a good feeling from it?

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Jay’s Answer: My key question about the blog is:

What’s the goal of the blog? For author PR? To sell something? To build traffic/authority status?

If it’s not about the author, then remove the author’s name from the banner.

If it’s to sell something, make the featured books more prominent (and make the books have links into the Amazon associates program).

If it’s to build traffic, write less and ask questions of the readership more.

If it’s to build authority, state opinions, quote other authorities, and react to their opinions.

I’ve been hosting a very successful webinar series for individual sales professionals, and am expanding this to series to include small business owners.

My question is, what time of day, or even day of the week would be considered ideal? I’ve been researching this topic myself, and find very little recommendations outside of “take their schedule into consideration.”

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Jay’s Answer: Start by picking one time and record the webinar for time-shifted playback. Also consider the effect of time zones and day-of-week on scheduling. The bottom line is: if what you’re offering is that remarkable, people will arrange their lives to attend it. Focus on an effective (both time & content) presentation and generating word-of-mouth recommendations to increase awareness over the long-run.